Thill-coupling



(No Model.)

vJ. W. LEETE.

. THILL GOPLING. 910.319.914. Patented June 9,1885...

*ODMJ l I 9 60% UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN W. LEETE, OF SOUTH MERIDEN, CONNECTICUT.

THlLL-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 319,914, dated June 9, 1885.

Application filed April 6, 1885. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern;

Beit known that I, JOHN W. LEETE,of South Meriden, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Thill-Couplings; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use it, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in thill-couplings; and it consists in the combination of a clip having a portion of the coupling either formed as a part thereof or attached thereto, the thill-i'ron a separate and independent ring which fits snugly in the sockets made in both parts of the thill-coupling, and the clamping-bolt by means of which the two parts of the coupling are held together, as will be more fully described hereinafter.

The object of my invention is to form a thillcoupling in which the whole of the draft, either forward or back, is made to come directly upon a ring which is placed between the two parts of the coupling, instead of upon the couplingbolt itself. l

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the thillcoupling embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical section ofthe same.

A represents the clip, and B one portion of the thill-coupling, which may either be formed as a part of the clip or attached thereto, as may be preferred. The otherportion, C,of the coupling is formed as a portion of the thilliron, and has its inner side to bear against the inner side of the part B, and the two parts of the coupling B C are securely clamped together by means of a bolt, D. This bolt may extend through both parts of the coupling without having its threads engage with either part; or it may have threads upon it, so as to engage with the part C, and thus prevent any possibility of the bolt working out and being lost. In the inner face of each part of the coupling is'formed a circular recess or socket, G, and in these two sockets is placed a ring, I, either of the shape here shown or any other, as may be preferred. This ring fits snugly in the two u sockets and serves to unite the two parts of the coupling together, and receives the whole of either the forward or backward draft, and thus prevents any strain from coming upon the clamping-bolt. This ring further' serves to prevent the two parts of the coupling from becoming loose and rattling, in case the bolt should become worn.

The advantages of using a separate ring are as follows: First, the ring, being made separately from the other parts ofthe coupling,will revolve or turn in its socket, and thus equalize the wear upon the ring at all points; second, the ring being made of steel and the two parts of the coupling of iron, a hard and soft metal are brought in contact with each other, and hence thereis not as much wear upon the parts as there would be if all of them were made of the same material, and two wearingsurfaces are obtained; third, in case the bolt should break, the ring would still hold the parts together for a time at least, instead of allowing them to separate at once; fourth, whenever the parts become too much worn, it is only necessary to remove the ring and insert a slightly-larger one, and thus the coupling is made nearly as good as. when new.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- Athill-coupling composed of two parts, each of which has a socket formed in its inner side, in combination with a separate ring which fits in both the sockets, and a clamping-bolt which passes through both parts of the coupling and v binds them together, substantially as shown and described. f

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in Witnesses:

F. A. LEHMANN, L.' L. BURKET. 

